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Saturday, May 29, 2010

This week, with the publication of Superman: War Of The Supermen #4 (of 4), the year long New Krypton storyline comes to an end in the Superman family of comic book titles. This storyline began at the end of the five issue Brainiac story with Action Comics #870. December 2008, published on October 8, 2008. Pa Kent passed away at the end of that issue, and the Kryptonian city of Kandor was rescued from Brainiac's ship and restored to normal size.

The plot unfolded in a number of storylines that brought back the "triangle numbers", familiar to readers of the Superman titles in the 1990's, like myself. New Krypton was told in the pages of New Krypton Special #1, Superman #'s 681-683, Action Comics 871-873, Supergirl 35-36. World Without Superman occurred in Superman: World Of New Krypton issues 1-5, Action Comics 875-880, Supergirl 39-44 and Superman 686-690. Codename Patriotoccurred in Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1 (of 1), Superman: World Of New Krypton #6, Action Comics 890, Supergirl 44 and Superman 691. World Against Superman was told in Superman: World Of New Krypton #s 7-12, Action Comics 881-889, Supergirl 45-50 and Superman 692-699. Last Stand Of New Krypton ran for issue #'s 0-4 as well as Superman: War Of The Supermen.

Superman faced the grief over the death of Pa Kent and the elation overthe dicovery of a city filled with surviors from Krypton.

Once Kandor was enlarged, they ran into conflict with the citizens of Earth almost immediately. They treated humanity much like the Western World has treated the Third World. Relations came to a head when Kandorians rounded up all of Superman's villains, in a preemptive strike to eliminate threats to themselves. In the process they killed a Science Policeman. In retaliation, a strike team is sent to New Krypton, resulting in the death of a number of Kryptonians, including Supergirl's father Zor-El. We discover that General Lane, who was supposedly killed during the Our World At War story some years ago, is still alive and heading the secret Project 7734 (Hell written upside down). He had been spending the subsequent years developing weapons and tactics against Kryptonians in general and Superman in particular. As a result, the city of Kandor launched into space and created another planet on the other side of the sun in Earth orbit.

When he discovered that General Zod and the other Phantom Zone criminals had been freed in order to live on New Krypton as well, Superman began to be unsure about his native people. When he learned that Gen. Zod had been named head of the military guild, Superman was faced with a difficult choice. He decided to leave Earth, for the immediate future, in order to live on New Krypton. The Man of Steel wanted to keep an eye on Zod, and hopefully influence his people on the use of their new super powers.

Superman left Earth, and Metropolis in particular, in the hands of a number of superheroes. Mon-El, also rescued from the Phantom Zone, and the new Guardian, protected the city. Chris Kent' also rescued from the Phantom Zone, operated as Nightwing (of Kryptonian legend), with Thara Ak-Var, who was Flamebird. They had their own mision, to hunt for Zod's sleeper agents on Earth. Action Comics followed their mission, while Superman told the story of Mon-El and the Guardian's protection of Metropolis.

There were quite a few plot threads that ran through this year long story. Gen. Lane manipulated events to frame Kryptonians in a bad light on Earth. Early in the story, Supergirl had a very straigned relationship with her childhood friend, Thara. Kara blamed her for the death of her father, since Thara was the head of security. Lucy Lane was not only serving in the U. S. Army, she was also Superwoman, working for her father, Gen. Lane. Chris Kent and Thara quickly developed a romantic relationship. Jimmy Olsen began to develop into his own as an investigative reporter as he dug into the secrets of Project 7734, at great personal risk.

In World Of New Krypton, Kal-El became a member of the Military Guild, with the rank of General and leader of Red Shard, a special forces unit. Kal and Zod quickly began to clash, which resulted in Kal's court-martial. Surprisingly Zod had Kal-El pardoned on the eve of a Kryptonian holiday. Kal-El showed how proficient he was with his powers, and how far Kryptonians had to go to learn how to use theirs. After assassination attempts against Zod and other members of the Science Council, Kal-El became head of the Military Guild and investigated the muder plots. It would eventually be discovered that a group of Kryptonian traitors were working with Gen. Lane, just before an escaped Brainiac attacked New Krypton.

Last Stand Of New Krypton told the tale of this battle, the presence of the Legion Espionage Squad from the 30th Century would be revealed. They played a key role in the battle and the aftermath. They took the cities Brainiac had captured and established colonies on various worlds, ensuring their future would exist. These transplanted and restored bottle cities would be the ancestral homes of many members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in one thousand years.

War Of The Supermen tells the climatic battle between New Krypton and Earth. Unfortunately, I won't be able to read the final issue until next week, after payday.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. First of all, I liked how past versions of Krypton, and their unique fashions, were combined into one, serving as various Kryptonian guilds. This has been one of Geoff John's strengths, taking past continuities, which often conflict, and combining them into one in a way that makes sense, and then building his own continuity with the results. The Kryptonians' attitude to humanity was much like the Western World's attitude toward the Third World for centuries.

It was great to see Jimmy Olsen maturing into an adventurous investigative reporter. Since Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis it seemed as if Jimmy had been de-aged. I had already seen Jimmy mature as both a person and a reporter in the 1990's, but then there have been a lot of new Superman readers since then (I would hope). Chris Kent's and Thara's hunt for the Kryptonian sleeper agents on Earth was the best part of the Action Comics storyline. The storyline of Mon-El and the Guardian protecting Metropolis, and clashing with General Lane, kept my interest in Superman. The skullduggery and machinations of General Lane also was intriguing. Over in Action Comics I enjoyed the developing relationship between Chris Kent and Thara. Superman's conflict with General Zod was the best part of World Of New Krypton. The final (for now) battle against Brainiac by New Krypton was an epic struggle, as is the War of the Supermen.

My favorite part of this storyline has been the involvement of the Legion of Super-Heroes. With the cancellation of their last monthly series, the Legion seemed to flounder, having to share Adventure Comics. They are too big to share a title with another character, even if it is the modern Superboy. Between the Legion Of 3 Worlds mini-series and the upcoming new Legion Of Super-Heroes #1, Geoff Johns has placed the Legion on a firm foundation. And with one of the most popular Legion writers in Paul Levitz returning to his most well known title, the Legion seems to be in good hands.

There were a few things I didn't care about this extended storyline. I wasn't as interested in Chris Kent and Thara as the embodiment of the spirits of Nightwing and Flamebird of Kryptonian myth. It's not that I don''t like stories involving religious or non-Christian themes. I just didn't like it as much as the development of their romance.

I also didn't like that, ultimately, Action Comics and Superman were secondary to the main story. It's become a common practice for both Marvel and DC. They give comic book readers too many choices not to read comic books. Readers can follow the main event mini-series, not follow a character's regular title(s), and then ignore them when the event series is over. These events don't seem to increase the readership of monthly titles once they are over. Yet the Big 2 seem to continuously dip in that well.

The murder mystery that ended World Of New Krypton did not interest me as much as the conflict between Kal-El and Zod, which filled the first six to eight issues. Also, ending the mini-series as a lead-in to another mini-series, Last Stand Of New Krypton, did not sit well with me. The ending of one mini-series should not be the beginning of another. Having Brainiac's ship appear on the last page of the last issue of Last Stand Of New Krypton was not an ending at all. It was the climax leading into the next issue of the story. Either New Krypton should have been extended a few more issues, or the story tightened somehow to fit in twelve issues.

One thing this whole storyline has succeeded in doing, if the new Superman creative teams follow up on it, is alter the status quo for the Man of Steel. With the introduction of anti-Kryptonian weapons, by both New Krypton and Earth ironically, superman is not as invulnerable as he was before. He is no less powerful, but now there are some weapons that can injure or kill him. They aren't all involving kryptonite, but exposing Kryptonians to red solar radioation. It will be interesting to see how superman outsmarts this new threat.

Also, I will be looking forward to seeing what happens to Chris Kent, if he survives War Of The Supermen #4. Will he be adopted by Clark and Lois? If so, will Superman's descendants come from Chris, so that DC can avoid the situation of having Clark and Lois having children?

Finally, I will be looking forward to a break from event mini-series. I will be picking up DC Universe: Legacies, but after that, I'll be content to read the regular Superman titles, and use the extra money left over to expand into other titles, like Fables, Jack Of Fables and Elephantmen.

With the end of the New Krypton storyline, new creative teams will be coming on board the Superman titles. Beginning with Superman #701, writer J. Michael Straczinski, cover artist John Cassaday and story artists Eddy Barrows and J. P. Mayer will be crafting those stories. Over in Action Comics #890, writer Paul Cornell replaces Marc Guggenheim, who was originally scheduled to be the new writer, but has gone on to another project for DC. The art team will be cover artist David Finch and story artist Pete Woods.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

James Winslow Mortimer was born on May 1, 1919, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He died on January 11, 1998. He was an almost forgotten comic book artist who creted many pages of Superman covers and stories in the 1940's and 1950's. His art training began with his father, who supervised the poster department of a lithograph company. Win worked there in the summer during his high school years. He also attended the Art Student League in New York City, where he studied under George Bridgeman. One of Win's fellow students was future comic strip artist Stan Drake. Win served in the Canadian Army during WWII, and was discharged in 1943.

He began working as an illustrator, designing posters for the Canadian Ministry of Information. Beginning in 1945 he got a job drawing for DC Comics, and moved to New York City. Because of the immigration laws of the time, he had to provide documentation of steady employment. DC helped in that regard by placing Win Mortimer on salary. But by 1949 he worked from home.

Win Mortimer's first DC story was The Batman Goes Broke, published in Detective Comics #105, November 1945, published on September 25, 1945. It was reprinted in Batman Archives, vol. V. Mortimer usually inked his own work. He drew about 253 stories for DC, from 1945 - 1973, then from 1977 - 1982. His final DC work was for the four issue mini-series World Of Metropolis, which filled in the background of the main cast of the Superman who began in John Byrne's 1986 mini-series, Man Of Steel.It was published in 1988. He also drew about 352 DC covers, from 1946 - 1968, covering a wide variety of genres.

Win Mortimer's less well lnown work involved drawing the art for DC Comics editor Jack Schiff's public service announcements. These gave wholesome messages for young comic book readers. They covered a variety of comics, from study tips, chores and safety to racism. Schiff worked with the National Social Welfare Assembly, an organization composed of psychologists and educators from a variety of groups. Among its members was Nobel Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck. Together, Mortimer and Schiff produced single page public service announcements from 1949 - 1960's. DC Comics sent thousands of copies to schools and civic orgainzations as a public service.

Mortimer left DC Comics in 1956 to become the artist of a daily newspaper comic strip David Crane, a Christian themed strip about an ordained minister, published by the Prentice-Hall Syndicate. According to Eddy Zeno's book, Curt Swan: A Life In Comics, the opening left by Win's departure opened the door for Curt Swan to eventually become the iconic Superman artist for the next 30 years. Win left that comic strip to draw the comic strip Larry Bannon, from 1961 - 1968, distributed by the Toronto Star Syndicate.

After 1968, Win Mortimer did both comic book and commercial art work. From the late 1960's to 1983, his comic book work involved publishers DC, Marvel and Gold Key, in a variety of genres. Win drew such humor titles as Stanley And His Monster, Scooter, Binky, Jerry Lewis, superheroes such as Supergirl, Lois Lane, Legion Of Super-Heroes and Spider-Man, horror titles like Boris Karloff's Tales Of Mystery, The Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Frankenstein and Supernatural Thrillers, and romance in Young Romance.

In 1983, Win Mortimer joined Neal Adams' studio, Continuity Associates, doing advertising and commercial projects. Win had heart bypass surgery in 1987, and continued his work for Continuity. He also did a five page religious themed comic book, Faith & Stuff. As mentioned previously, Mortimer drew the four issue mini-series World Of Metropolis. While a number of inkers worked over Win's pencils, the art was very well done for a man of Mortimer's age, and after heart surgery. His final comic book work was for The Honeymooners, issue #11, June 1989.

Win Mortimer died on Sunday, January 11, 1998, after a six month battle against cancer. He worked as an artist almost up to the time of his death. He was survived by his wife Eileen, three children, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. About Win Mortimer, Neal Adams said, "Win fit his work into his life. He had a family , a home and made contributions to his community. He was an ideal for other artists to pay attention to."

In 2006, Win Mortimer was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall Of Fame.

For this episode, three stories drawn by Win Mortimer will be featured.

The first story is Crime Paradise, published in Action Comics #101, October 1946, around August 15, 1946. The issue contained 48 pages for 10 cents. George Roussos inked Win Mortimer's pencils. The story opened with several examples of Superman acting strangely. He ignored a drowning man to grab a shiny seashell from the ocean floor. The man was saved by lifeguards. Superman dismantled a stalled vehicle and left the stranded motorists. Then the Man of Steel dismantled a skyscraper, rebuilding it upside down after the occupants left the building.

A gang leader named Specs had gained knowledge of ancient drugs. He had discovered a drug which caused insanity. That evening Clark and Lois attened a banquet honoring a local dignitary, who went beserk and attacked the speaker. Clark secretly changed to Superman and subdued the man. As Clark he visited the man in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Clark left and passed Specs, who visited the man, posing as a relative. After Spec's visit the man returned to normal. Later Clark and Lois attneded a play, where an actor went beserk onstage. Superman subdued thie actor, who was taken away by the authroities. Lois overheard members of Spec's gang talking, and was kidnapped when she was following them.

Clark went to visit the actor's wife, and saw Specs enter the actor's home. Using his x-ray vision and super hearing, he heard Specs blackmail the woman for the antidote. Clark became Superman and followed Specs to the hospital. After Spec's visit the actor returned to normal. Superman followed Specs to his hideout, where he found Lois tied up. Specs blackmailed Superman into ingesting the drug, which caused him to go berserk. Superman flew uncontrollably into an atomic bomb test detonation. The blast and radiation served as an antidote, and Superman returned to Metropolis to capture the gang and repair the damage he caused.

The second story is The Magnetic Mobster, from Superman #51, March/April 1948, published around January 7, 1948. It was written by Alvin Schwartz, and Win Mortimer pencilled and inked the art. Some crooks detonated a bomb buried in the road, under an armored car. They attacked the guards with tear gas and stole the contents. After the attack the armored car company decided to transport money using tanks, to deter robbers. Perry White sends Clark and Lois to cover the story. Clark bowed out of the story, saying he didn't see uch of a story there, but actually to be able to protect the shipment as Superman. He saved Lois car from an attack on the tank, which was deterred.

The leader of the gang, a Mr. Ohm, equipped a plane with an electromagnet to attack the tanks. When Superman flew to the Daily Planet offices, Perry White told him about the tank being stolen, and the Man of Steel being considered a suspect. After talking with the president of the armored car company, Superman guarded the the next tank. He was repelled by the magnetic field the plane generated.

The next day Clark and Lois covered the armored car company again. To repel the magnetic plane the company had covered the tank with lead, and a crowd had gathered around the building. To keep Clark and Lois from snooping around a police officer handcuffed them together. When the plane flew overhead, the magnet picked them up. the palane's crew shut down the magnet, letting Clark and Lois fall to their death. Lois fainted and Clark broke the cuffs, changed into Superman, and carried Lois to the ground. He left her a note to let her know that Superman had saved them and that Clark was phoning in his story.

To defeat the plane, Superman converted the next tank into a magnet. Holding two wires together, Superman spun around at super speed, as a dynamo, creating his own magnet. His was powerful enough to capture the magnetic plane. Back at the Daily Planet offices, Clark cracked that he was magnetically attracted to scoops. Lois retoreted that only when she was unconscious. Once again Lois got the last word.

The final story of the issue appeared in Adventure Comics #373, October 1968, published around August 29, 1968. The story, The Tornado Twins was written by Jim Shooter, with both pencils and inks provided by Win Mortimer. The story opened with various Legionnaires involved in different activities, al summoned by an alarm. A United Planets Experimental Vehicle Research Center was being robbed of some of its super-fast experimental vehicles. The Legion arrived to find the gang responsible was already captured by a male and female teen, both with red hair. They introduced themselves as Don and Dawn Allen. They made short work of Karate Kid when he demanded an explanation when they tried to leave. After they left, Don and Dawn comented to each other how their plan was working.

The Legion responded to another alarm, at a mine. They found a mine filled with mining robots that had gone berserk. They got the best of the Legion, and were defeated by the Allens. The Legion began to feel insecure because of the publicity the Allens received. As a result, the Legion began an investigation about the Allens, but found no criminal record, nor evidence of any super powers.

After the Legion responded to another alarm caused by a building fire, they find the flames doused by the Allens. Surprisingly, the Allens reject an offer of Legion membership. Karate Kid wanted to settle the score, and is quickly defeated again by the Allens.

Later, a dejected Legion was slow to respond to another alarm, but could not ignore their mission. They found an alien rocket in a city square. When they attacked it, they found the rocket is a fake. It fell apart, revealing a giant statue of the 20th Century hero the Flash. Don and Dawn, dressed in Kid Flash costumes, revealed that they were descendants of Barry Allen. As representatives of the Barry Allen Memorial Institute, they were given temporary powers by the Institute to promote Barry Allen Day, declared by the United Planets.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

This episode continues our quarterly look at Action Comics and Superman, this time with issue #125 of both titles.

Action Comics #125, October 1948, was published around August 18, 1948. It contained 48 pages and sold for a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor. The cover was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It showed Superman throwing some gunmen against the wall of a police station, where they hung by their jacket collars on a coat rack. There is no reprint information available for this issue.

Action was still an anthology title at this time, and the first story, featuring Superman, was The Modern Nostradamus. The only credit information available on this story was for the artist, who was Al Plastino. It began with an elderly bearded man, wearing a toga, entered the Daily Planet offices. He introduced himself as the modern Nostradamus and said that he had tomorrow's headline. Perry and Lois talked about how the original Nostradamus had predicted many historical events, such as the death of King Henry II, Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada and the manner of his own death.

The next day the top headline of the Daily Planet predicted that a meteor would hit the planet. At the Daily Planet offices Lois saw a meteor falling from the sky. Clark secretly changed into Superman and stopped the meteor from crashing into the Daily Planet building. Perry then sent Clark and Lois to talk to the new Nostradamus to find out what his next prediction was. They found him outside Metropolis, living in a cave. He predcicted that night would turn into day. That evening a blinding light flashed across the sky. Fires then broke out in Fountain Square. (In the next few panels the sky would be colored blue, making the scene appear to be in daylight.) Clark changed into Superman to extinguish the fires, but, unknown to him, a man noticed that Superman flew from the area that Clark Kent had been just moments before. He ran to tell his boss, hoping that the news would force the Man of Steel to leave them alone. He didn't sound like he was up to any good.

Superman used his x-ray vision to discover that the pipes which supplied the fountains in the square came from the reservoir. He flew into the reservoir and swam around fast enough to increase the water pressure enough to force the water out of the fountains with enough pressure to extinguish the flames. (There was no mention about what the increased water pressure did in the rest of the city. But, such is the case for golden age stories, or silver age for that matter.)

The stranger ran into a laboratory outside Metropolis, which served as the hideout for none other than Lex Luthor. We discovered that Luthor was behind the meteor and the night light, which was actually a phosphorous bomb. His henchman told Luthor what he saw, and his suspicions about Clark Kent being Superman. You are left to wonder if the modern Nostradamus was working for Luthor or not.

Nostradamus' next prediction, which he personally told to Lois Lane, was that Metropolis would be hit by an earthquake. Superman then flew to the Daily Planet offices and told both Lois and Nostradamus that he had found traces of phosphoric acid at the fires, and that an examination of the paper that the predicitons were written on revealed that the paper was machine made, and thus a fake. But Superman did not seem to indicate that Nostradamus was involved with setting the fires.

Superman flew over Metropolis and folowed a car which driven by Luthor and his gang. Superman used his super hearing to discover that Luthor was behind both the meteor and the fires. So the Man of Steel burrowed underground and caused an earthquake himself. He caused the earth to crack open under Luthor's car, and then saved the vehicle. Superman then yelled across Metropolis that there wasn't going to be an earthquake, and for everyone to go home, then repaired the damage. Luthor told Superman that he knew that he was really Clark Kent.

After Superman put down Luthor's car in front of the Daily Planet building, he informed Lois Lane about Luthor's plot and his claims, and then went inside the Planet offices to get Clark Kent. When Clark emerged fom the building, unknown to the people around him, he emitted a supersonic whistle, beyond human hearing, and caused a nearby tower to collapse. ( I felt sorry for all the dogs in Metropolis at that moment.) As everyone watched the tower falling, he changed to Superman at super speed and repaired the tower. Before everyone turned around he again flew at super speed and changed back into Clark Kent, so that noone suspected that he could possibly be Superman. Luthor and his gang were taken to prison, but Lex's henchman could not be convinced that Clark Kent wasn't Superman. but noone else would believe him.

This story was published in an era when Superman's powers were jumping off the charts, as creators strived to make more interesting stories and be original. They often succeeded, but just as often went over the top, as in this story.

Congo Bill: Man Against Manhunter was drawn by Edwin J. Smalle, Jr. A man borrowed a trained leopard to attempt to murder Congo Bill, in order to get at some buried gold that belonged to the local government. Congo Bill mortally wounded the leopard, which turned on its handler. Congo Bill turned the injured man in to the authorities.

Zatara: The Phony Pitchman was pencilled by William F. White. The magician used his magic powers to teach some crooked street vendors a lesson.

Vigilante:The Reluctant Annie Oakley was pencilled by Jerry Robinson and inked by Mort Meskin. A gang watched a modern Annie Oakley perform on television, then kidnapped her from the television studio in order to force her to help them spring one of their gang members from jail. She does, but Vigilante saves her from being murdered by the gang afterward. Together they use their sharpshooting skills to capture the whole gang, without shooting at them.

Superman #125, November 1958, was published around September 18, 1958. It contained 32 pages and sold for a dime. Mort Weisinger was also the editor for this issue. The cover was drawn by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, and illustrated the issue's third story, Superman's New Power. All three stories in this issue were reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I.

The second story was Clark Kent's College Days, written by Jerry Coleman and drawn by Al Plastino. Along with the reprint editions cited earlier for this issue, this story was also reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (1987). The story began with Clark, at his Daily Planet office, receiving an invitation to his college reunion. He then reminisced about his college days.

His flashback began with his high school graduation, where his principal gave Clark his high scool diploma. He described Clark as the shyest boy in class, and hoped that college made more of a man out of him. You can't get more of a backhanded compliment than that. Clark attended Metropolis University, where he suffered the freshman hazing common to the time. He still managed to operate as Superboy while protecting his secret identity.

During his sophmore year he took a science class taught by Professor Maxwell. During class one day, the Professor demonstrated a steam powered robot. Clark noticed a crack beginning to form in its chest and used his heat vision to seal it. Prof. Maxwell noticed it, and suspected one of his students of being Superboy. He then devised a series of tests to trap the Boy of Steel.

In class the next day Prof. Maxwell demonstrated a lie detector test by testing it on his students. He asked each one if he or she was Superboy. He was able to test every student before time ran out, except for Clark Kent. So he began to suspect Clark of secretly being Superboy.

On the following day, Maxwell took the class on a field trip to a replica of the Leaning Tower of Piza. He planned on reenacting Galileo's experiment of dropping two objects of different weight, proving that the force of gravity was equal on both objects. He told Clark that a crank called to say that he had replaced one cannonball with an explosive charge. That did not dissuade the Professor from going ahead with the experiment. Clark secretly changed into Superboy and burrowed underground to where the balls would hit the ground. He did not break the surface, so that the balls broke the surface and disappeared underground.Superman then filled in the hole and changed back inot Clark. That did not change Maxwell's suspicions.

That Saturday, Clark served as a member of the male cheerleading squad, which was as athletic as he got. During one cheer, Clark was so distracted by the Professor's suspicions that he jumped too high for a normal human. To cover himself he grabbed some nearby floating balloons at super speed. Professor Maxwell watched the whole thing with binoculars, but Clark still was still able to keep him in doubt about his secret.

For the next class, Maxwell took his science students to a cavern. He isolated Clark from the rest of the class and exposed him to a sample of kryptonite. To cover himself, Clark burrowed his fingers into the cavern wall, releasing some natural gas. The fumes quickly knocked everyone unconscious, and Superboy removed them form the cavern before they could be harmed by the fumes. He then loaded everyone on the bus and flew it back to campus. He snuck back onboard at super speed and emerged from the back of the bus. Professor Maxwell asked Clark to take a lie detector test, to which he surprisingly agreed. Maxwell asked Clark if he was Superboy, and Clark answered no. To the Professor's surprise, Clark passed the lie detector test. That was because Clark had begun to think of himself as Superman, not Superboy.

Clark then ended his reminisces by looking at his yearbook, which Professor Maxwell had signed Best wishes to the one boy I am convinced is not Superboy.

The final story of the issue was Superman's New Power, written by Jerry Coleman, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It began with Lois telling Clark that she felt the Daily Planet building swaying. As Superman he burrowed deep underground to discover that the magma under Metropolis was wearing down the rock under the city. After he repaired the rock under the city, Superman burrowed toward the surface. He discovered a miniature alien rocket that had been buried for an unknown amount of time. It exploded, bombarding Superman with shrapnel, but he was unharmed, or so he thought.

Back at Metropolis, the Man of Steel flew after a gang, who were fleeing in a car after a robbery. The car hit Superman, bouncing him over the vehicle. Strange lights shot out of Superman's fingertips, and the gang surrendered for some unknown reason.

When a cannon had jammed, Superman used his new power once again. Light shot out of his fingertips and a minature replica of himself appeared and flew into the cannon barrel, setting off the shell before it could damage the cannon.

In jail, the robbers told how they were stopped by the same miniature Superman, who pulled them form their car and hit them until they asked the original Superman to take them to jail.

Superman discovered that his mini-me replica had all of his powers, and he only had the ability to cause it to appear. He became very jealous of his mini-me duplicate.

When an iceberg threatened Metropolis harbor. Superman had his mini-duplicate melt it with his heat vision. Superman wished he had his old powers back, and felt quite useless.

In other emergencies, the mini-Superman destroyed a guided missle that threatened the Eiffel Tower, extinguished a fire on board a ship and unraveled a robber's sweater and tied him around a lamp post until he could be arrested by the police.

When a meteor shower, including a kryptonite metoer, threatened Metropolis, Superman sent his mini-me to destroy them. He didn't really care if his mini-dulplicate was destroyed by the kryptonite meteor. (Of course that would not necessarily mean that his powers would return.) The duplicate used the other meteors to deflect the kryptonite away from Metropolis, before destroying them. The kryptonite landed outside Metropolis, where it was immediately found by a gang. They happened to have a catapult, and shot the kryptonite at Superman. The mini-me Superman wasn't done yet. It pushed the kryptonite away form the Man of Steel, before being destroyed by the radiation. Superman's powers returned, and he wondered if his mini-me duplicate acted on his own, or merely obeyed Superman's wishes. And maybe feeling a little badly about being jealous over his mini-duplicate.

After reading this last story I couldn't help but think how convenient it was for a gang to be in just the right place to find the kryptonite, much less have a catapult. But, that's silver age storytelling. It was not uncommon for a story to pull some convenient plot device out of thin air to move the story along, or conclude it. These stories were definitely written for a young audience. What a contrast to modern comic book storytelling. Still, it was fun to look back.To me, the best story of both issues was Clark Kent's College Days. Even in that one, Clark wasn't afraid to expose his class to dangerous gas to knock them out in order to protect his secret identity, even though he rescued them before they could be harmed. He was a nice guy, but didn't play around with his secret identity.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

This episode would have been the one where I highlight the 125th issue of both Action Comics and Superman. That will have to wait until next week, because this week happens to be the birthday of comic book writer Dennis "Denny" O'Neil. He was born on May 3, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri. Denny was a prolific comic book writer and editor, who worked at Charlton, Marvel and, most famously, DC Comics. His most famous artistic collaborator was Neal Adams on both Batman and Green Lantern / Green Arrow.

Denny grew up in a Catholic household, and was exposed to comic books in the same way those of us of older generations were, spinner racks at local grocery stores. He graduated from St. Louis University early in the 1960's and joined the Navy. During his military service he was involved with the Cuban Missle Crisis. After his Navy service ended, he was hired as a reporter at a Cape Girardeau, Missouri newspaper.

His writing caught the attention of Roy Thomas, who worked for Mort Weisinger at DC before leaving for Marvel. Roy encouraged Denny to take the Marvel writing test, which for him was adding dialogue to four unlettered pages of Fantastic Four. Stan Lee hired him, and Denny wrote scripts for Millie The Model, Dr. Strange and Nick Fury in Strange Tales, and a few other titles.

After work at Marvel dried up, Denny worked for editor Dick Giordano at Charlton Comics. When Dick was hired by DC Comics, he brought some of his freelancers with him, including Denny. The DC offices bacame a contrast between its longtime staff, wearing shirts and ties, and the more informal hippie generation Dick brought over from Charlton. O'Neil worked as editor as well as writer on a variety of titles.

Denny's first DC script was for Beware The Creeper #1, a character Steve Ditko created. Among other titles Denny wrote for were Wonder Woman and Justice League Of America. He was involved in the controversial de-powering of Diana Prince, and introduced a new supporting charcter for Wonder Woman, the non-pc I Ching.

Denny had more success on the characters of Batman, Green Lantern and Green Arrow. He brought a sense of social relevance about the issues of the day to Green Lantern and Green Arrow. Denny had Oliver Queen lose his fortune and become a liberal, urban hero. He also contributed to the return of Batman to his dark detective roots. Ra's al Ghul was introduced during this time and became one of Batman's most formidable foes. Artist Neal Adams collaborated with Denny on all three characters.

O'Neil returned to Marvel in 1980, where he worked as a writer and editor. He wrote and edited Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil, and also wrote for Epic Illustrated and a variety of other titles.

In 1986 Denny returned as writer and editor to DC, where he would eventually become group editor of the Batman titles. As a writer, he collaborated with artist Denys Cowan on The Question. I've heard some interviews with O'Neil where he stated that if he could do it over again, he would have created his own character, instead of changing the Question from creator Steve Ditko's conservative, objectivist origin. Denny felt, looking back, that changing a character so completely was not showing respect to the character as done by his creator.

Under Denny's editorial leadership, Batman had a number of extended storylines that stood out. One was Knightfall, from 1993, where the villain Bane would eventually break Batman's back. In 1998 and 1999 he edited the Cataclysm and No Man's Land storylines, where an earthquake destroyed Gotham City and the federal government sealed off the city from the rest of the country because of the devastation.

Denny wrote outside of comic books, creating a number of novels, short stories and scripts. He wrote the novelization to Knightfall, as well as to the movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He would also write the DC Comics Guide To Writing Comics, which was not a write-like-me book, but laid out an excellent structure to develop one's own comic book scripting style.

In the late 1990's he taught comic book writing at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Denny is the father of Lawrence O'Neil, who is an actor, writer, director and producer. He has retired for the most part, and is a member of the Disbursement Committee for the Hero Initiative, the charity which aids comic book professionals in need.

Denny O'Neil did have a short, but famous, run on Superman in the early 1970's. He wrote the stories for Superman issues 233 - 254, cover dated January 1971 - July 1972. After Mort Weisinger retired in 1970, Mort's lifelong friend and fellow DC editor Julius Schwartz was given the job of editing Superman. Julie, as he was called, made his mark on the Man of Steel as he did Batman. Not familiar with Superman, he relied on editor and assistant E. Nelson Bridwell (subject of episode #57), and his encyclopedic knowledge of the Man of Steel. Julie also called in his number one writer, Dennis O'Neil to write the stories. Denny was not excited at first, but Julie's charm wore him down. O'Neil had trouble relating to such a superpowered hero. He was more comfortable with more earthbound characters like Batman.

Julie wanted to do several things with Superman. First he wanted to reduce his superpowers so that it would not be as hard to challenge the Man of Steel. As Julie said in his now out of print autobiography Man Of Two Worlds, instead of balancing a planet on his fingertip, Superman would need to use both hands. Next, he would get rid of kryptonite. He thought it had been overused as a plot device. Then Julie wanted to get rid of all of the Superman robots. He thought it made it too easy for Superman and Clark Kent to be at the same place at the same time. Finally he would update Clark Kent's wardrobe. Julie did such a good job in Clark's closet that the magazine GQ published an article on Clark Kent's new look.

The biggest change for Clark Kent was his employment. Daily Planet owner Morgan Edge hired Clark Kent as a TV reproter for his station GBS. Sports reporter and ex-jock Steve Lombard quickly becme a thorn in Clark's side. Julie also added to the decor of Clark's apartment, a bust resembling his reitred friend, Mort Weisinger. In fact, when Clark would arrive home from work, he would toss his hat onto the bust's head and say, "Evening, Mort."

The "new look" Superman first appeared in Superman #233, January 1971, published on November 5, 1970. It contained 32 pages for 15 cents. The cover, showing Superman breaking chains that had been wrapped around his chest, was drawn by Neal Adams.The Dennis O'Neal story, Superman Breaks Loose, was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson. It has been reprinted in a number of editions: Superman From the Thirties To The Seventies, Superman In The Seventies, Millennium Edition #58, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told vol. II and Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore.

When an experimental kryptonite powered engine exploded, it caused a worldwide chain reaction that converted all Earthbound kryptonite to lead. The explosion also knocked down Superman. Later in the issue Clark left his job at the Daily Planet to become a reporter at TV station GBS.

As Superman chased a gang of terrorists, he happened to fly over the place where the explosion occurred. He briefly felt dizzy and his heat vision cut out. Superman assumed that it might have been some lingering kryptonite radiation. What the Man of Steel would not find out for several issues was that the blast opened an invisible portal from another dimension. An entity entered our world and created a form, resembling Superman, from the sand where the Man of Steel had been knocked down from the earlier explosion.

My first Superman issue written by Dennis O'Neal was not this issue, but Superman #240, July 1971, May 13, 1971. It also contained 32 pages for 15 cents. The cover was pencilled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Neal Adams, but it looked more like Neal's drawing style than Carmine's art. I remember my parents buying it for me when they were shopping one Saturday in nearby Leesburg, Florida. What caught my eye was the cover, which showed a group of people heckling Superman, who held a copy of the Daily Planet with the bold headline Superman Fails! The story, To Save A Superman was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Dick Giordano. I remember being impressed by the art. Superman looked familiar, but Girodano's inks seemed to update Curt's style. This story was reprinted in the hardcover Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore!

The story began with Superman responding to an apratment building fire. He rescued a mother and children trapped on one of the upper floors beyond the reach of the firemen, even though he had been slowly losing his superpowers. The building's sarcastic owner challenged Superman to try to save his building, but the fire had weakened the structure too much. A weakened Superman fell with the building on top of him. After he climbed out of the rubble a news photgrapher took his picture, which appeared on the front page of the Daily Planet, with the headline Superman Fails!

The Anti-Superman Gang saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of Superman's struggles. The next day, Superman walked the streets of Metropolis, which was an unusual scene in iteself. He was greeted by the heckles of a group of construction workers. A bitter Man of Steel heard an explosion a block away and fought the urge to ignore it. Unable to turn his back on his responsibilites, Superman flew to the scene of the explosion. A gang had driven a truck haling a piece of artillery to rob a bank. They shot the Man of Steel out of the sky. He had a weird vision of a golden duplicate flying overhead, sapping his powers. Superman awoke to the sound of the gang's laughter. He got the last laugh when he tore the safe door off of its hinges and wrecked the truck.

Back at the office, Clark Kent was greeted by an elderly Oriental gentleman, I Ching, who was a friend of Diana Prince, Wonder Woman. Not only did he know Clark's secret identity, but also his superpowered problem. A copy boy phoned in a tip to a member of the Anti-Superman Gang, who ordered him to find out I Ching's address.

That evening Clark Kent went to I Ching's apartment and changed into Superman. Using his mystic knowledge, I Ching called forth Superman's spirit. Before he could get any farther, some thugs break in. They quickly knocked him out, and one of them hit Superman in the head with the butt of his pistol. It raised a large bruise on the Man of Steel's forehead, but it awakened Superman from his trance. Without any powers, Superman defeated all three gangsters to conclude the issue.

The backup story was The Man Who Cheated Time, a story under the banner of The Fabulous World Of Krypton: Untold Stories Of Superman's Native Planet. It was written by Cary Bates and drawn by Mike Kaluta, but it will have to be the subject of another episode.

The Superman story would continue in the next two issues. I Ching would complete his treatment, by sending Superman's spirit to find the sand Superman duplicate and siphon off some of the powers it had drained from the Man of Steel. Superman would battle another dimensional being that had animated a paper mache Oriental demon and faced his sand duplicate. At the end of the story I Ching was able to help the two Supermen resolve their conflict. Superman declined the offer to siphon back the rest of his lost powers, and the being returned to his dimension. Superman remained less powerful for a while, but his power levels slowly creeped back up over time.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The last of the four Supermen introduced in the Superman titles with the June 1993 cover date was Superboy ("Don't call me Superboy!") in The Adventures Of Superman #501, cover dated late June 1993, Triangle #15 1993 Mike Carlin was the editor, assisted by Jennifer Frank. Tom Grummett pencilled both the regular and deluxe cutout covers. Karl Kesel inked the regular cover, while Doug Hazelwood inked the deluxe cover. The story, When He Was A Boy, was written by Karl Kesel, pencilled by Tom Grummett, inked by Doug Hazelwood, lettered by Albert DeGuzman and colored by Glenn Whitmore.

The story began when a group of thugs shot at the Superman statue after, we assume, stealing a taxi. Then they aimed to run over a femal jogger. She was saved by a teenager wearing a leather jacket and dressed like Superman (without a cape). He picked her up with one hand and stopped the taxi with the other, totaling the cab. After ripping off a car door, crushing the gun and taking a pair of shades from one of the thugs, this new Superman kissed the girl and flew away.

In Suicide Slum, Bibbo gave sandwiches to some of the homeless people living around the docks. He then dove into the water to retrieve a bag filled with puppies. They had been throuwn into the harbor by an elderly woman because she had no food to give them. Only one white puppy survived, so Bibbo adopted it and named it Krypton.

Jimmy and Lois returned to the Daily Planet offices to find the same young Superman sitting at Lois' desk, reading the Daily Planet. On the front of her desk is a clipping with the headline Ordway To Sponsor Batson Expedition (I assume referring to Jerry Ordway working on the Captain Marvel title Shazam). In the background, on another desk is taped another clipping with the headline Kesel Rejoins Team, probably a little Easter egg referring to Karl Kessel, the writer of this issue. Jimmy made the mistake of calling him Superboy. He picked Jimmy up and hung him upside down and said, "Don't call me Superboy!"

Lois was skeptical about the young superhero being Superman, when he informs her that he's actually a clone of Superman. He then told her that maybe he needed to slick back his hair and wear glasses. His eyes were then drawn to a dark skinned, beautiful young woman walkng out of the Planet offices. He followed her outside and picked her up, literally, and they talked privately on a rooftop.

This young Superman next appeared on TV ina televised interview onn GBS, conducted by the same young woman, whose name was Tana Moon. Lex, Jr. watched the interview aas he sat recovering from a broken leg. He bashed the tv screen with a baseball bat, and ordered Happersen to get Packard.

In the GBS boardroom, Vinnie Edge informed the board that Superboy was exclusive to GBS. Superboy was next shown hanging onto a GBS news helicopter. He lept off the copter to land on a street in Suicide Slum, as he went after the villain Steel Hand.

A Superboy mini-poster was in the center of the issue.

Superboy made short work of a gang that attacked him. Then manhole covers are blown off the street and geysers of flame shot out of the manholes. Then a bus with a spiked bumper hits Superboy and crashed him into a buiding before it exploded. Superboy survived the explosion, but his leather jacket didn't. That was the last straw. Superboy crashed through Steel Hand's headquarters and took out the entire gang. Tara interviewed him afterwards, while Lois Lane called Martha Kent and informed her that this new, young and brash Superman was not Clark, but a clone.

At dusk, Superboy landed on top of a building, wearing a new Superman jacket. He was met by The Guardian, who gave the young hero some professional advice.

Tara met Vinnie Edge at his apartment. Edge wanted her to cover their Superman as he fought costumed super-villains. She told him to tell her where, and she'd get it on tape. Vinnie said that it could be arranged.

At the end of the issue Luthor interrogated Packard, who was a Cadmus scientist, was also a Luthor informant. He gave Luthor the details about thie new, young Superman. Cadmus Director Westfield rushed Experiment 13 into production. The Newsboy Legion clones freed Superboy, who was Experiment 13, before safeguards could be implanted that would have made him more controllable by Cadmus. He was also released before he had reached maturity. Cadmus had no plans to recover Superboy, because a search for the young Man of Steel might threaten Cadmus' secrecy. When Luthor challenged Packard about his earlier claims that Superman couldn't be cloned. Packard answered yes and no, and that he'd tell Luthor everything.

Obviously, this Superboy was not the same silver age Superboy. This new Superboy was a modern hero for the 1990's, brash and edgy. in other words, annoying. He was also dressed in the superhero fashion of the '90's, a leather jacket, customized with a yellow Superman shield on the back. That look was cool in the 1990's but dated today, much like bell bottom jeans and tie-die t-shirts from the 1960's in my childhood.

This new Superboy's story began before the introduction of the four new Supermen. Director Westfield was foiled in his attempt to gain custody of Superman's body, thanks to Lex Luthor Jr.'s influence. In the Superman titles cover dated January and February, 1993, Westfield tunneled into Superman's tomb and stole his body. After a number of setbacks Cadmus would succeed with experiment 13 in cloning Superman. In the Superman titles cover dated Merch 1993 Lois discovered Cadmus' theft and Superman's body would be returned to his tomb.

At the end of Adventures Of Superman #500, Early June 1993, the Newsboy Legion freed Experiment 13 and helped him escape Cadmus. He thanked the Newsboys for helping him escape by telling them not to call him Superboy.

After he was revealed to the world in Adventures #501, Superboy would play a role in the defeat of the Cyborg Superman, as noted in the other three episodes this month.

Superboy would hire the aptly named Rex Leech as his agent, who would trademark the Superman name. (When the real Superman was resurrected, he made a deal with Leech over the use of his name.) Superboy would be part of a tense romantic triangle with Tana Moon and Rex's daughter Roxy. Tana would leave GBS to work at a Hawaiian TV station. Like Steel, Superboy would star in his own title for 100 issues, from cover dates February 1994 - July 2002. Dubbilex, from Project Cadmus, served as a chaperone. At the end of his own series, Superboy moved into an apartment in Metropolis and worked as the building's superintendant. He would later move to Smallville to live with the Kents.

Superboy would become ill with the clone virus, along with Lex Luthor, Jr., which would eventually be revealed to have been created by Cadmus renegade Dabney Donovan. Lex, Jr. blamed Cadmus for his illness and attacked the Project. Cadmus would find a cure for the clone disease, and Superboywould be the first one to receive the treatment, in The Adventures Of Superman #513, June 1994.

In Superboy Annual #2, 1995, Superboy would discover that the human DNA that was combined with Superman's genes to create him came from Director Westfield himself. That detailed would be retconned later, as will be discussed later.

Superboy would team up with the Legion of Super-Heroes in their titles with the cover dates of October and November 1995. Because of his actions, he was made an honorary member of the Legion and given a flight ring.

After Westfield's death at the hands of Dabney Donovan, ssuperboy would become a field agent for the new management of Cadmus, in Superboy #55, September 1998. Superboy would also join Young Justice, a group of teen heroes that was creted after the Teen Titans became Titan, as the Titan members became adults. Young Justice ran for 55 issues, from cover dates September 1998 - May 2003. Superboy would then join the Titans, with some of the former members of Young Justice: Tim Drake/Robin, Impulse and Wonder Girl. They joined Titans veterans Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy in TeenTitans #1, September 2003. In this issue, it was revealed that Superboy's human DNA came not from the late Dir. Westfield, but Lex Luthor himself.

At some point Superboy became known as Conner Kent, but since I stopped buying comic books for a few years at the beginning of the millenium, I'm not sure when that happened.

The new Teen Titans would be transported to the future to team up with the Legion of Super-Heroes in Teen Titans #15 and 16, October and November 2005. They would return to their own time, but ten years in the future, and face their adult selves. In issues 17 - 19, December 2004 - February 2005, they discovered that their adult selves were almost villains. Superboy had replaced the late superman, and Tim Drake replaced Batman. He used the gun that had murdered Bruce Wayne's parents to exact vengence on villains. When they finally returned to their correct time, Superboy and Robin vowed not to become the dark versions of their adult selves they had seen.

Conner Kent would be killed by Superboy Prime in Infinite Crisis #6, May 2006. He would be resurrected in Legion Of 3 Worlds #4, June 2009, a Final Crisis tie-in (which was one of only two parts of that event series I read, along with Superman Beyond 3-D.) It would be revealed that his body was put in the same rejuvination matrix that had revived Superman, but Conner's injuries took 1,000 years to heal.

Superboy would become the featured character of the new Adventure Comics. He would settle once again in Smallville, to live with the recently widowed Ma Kent. Conner would attempt to come to terms with his dual Superman / Lex Luthor heritage.

During the recent Blackest Night event series, Superboy would join the Man of Steel in battling the Black Lantern Superman. Both heroes would become Black Lanterns themselves when Nekron took control of the previously resurrected heroes. These heroes, including Superboy, would break free and become White Lanterns. I did not read Blackest Night or any of its tie-ins.

Superboy would also be a major character in Superman, helping Mon-El protect Metropolis while Superman was on New Krypton. He joined some members of the Legion of Super-Heroes to help New Krypton fight Brainiac.

Next Episode: Happy Birthday, Dennis O'Neil & Free Comic Book Day!

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